Published: July 03, 2008 12:11 pm            

Rays shine with streak

PRINCETON — The Princeton Rays claimed their first sweep of the 2008 season under the lights of Hunnicutt Field Saturday against the Burlington Royals.

Though the Rays got off to a rough start this season, the tide turned last Thursday, and the Rays rode it all the way to three wins on home field.

The Rays were 2-7 when the Royals arrived in town, but they started a winning streak that night with backing from an enthusiastic home crowd and amid the buzz of No. 1 draft pick Tim Beckham’s first night of play. After nine innings, the Rays claimed their third victory of the year by a score of 7-6.

The Rays started the scoring early, after holding the Royals scoreless in the first inning.

Beckham, who served as the designated hitter in his first professional game, hit a single on his first at-bat as a Ray. After Burlington walked Burt Reynolds and Eli Sonoqui, Rays infielder Elias Otero singled on a ground ball, sending Beckham and Reynolds home. Sonoqui stopped running at third, but he wouldn’t stay there long. Catcher Mayo Acosta doubled on a fly ball to right field, and Sonoqui went home to send the score to 3-0.

Neither team scored in the second inning, but Burlington rallied in the third, sending three runners across the home plate to knot the score at 3-3.

When the Rays picked up their bats in the third inning, Reynolds kept the hits coming with a triple to center field. Sonoqui flew out to Burlington’s second baseman, but Otero wouldn’t strand Reynolds at third. He singled, sending his teammate home and making the score 4-3, Princeton.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Rays outfielder Justin Reynolds tripled on a line drive to center field. Diogenes Luis sent a sacrifice fly to center, giving Reynolds enough time to score. Beckham grounded out to end the inning with a 5-3 score.

But, Burlington wasn’t finished yet. The Royals scored two more runs in the fifth inning and another in the eighth, but it still wasn’t enough to claim the win.

The Rays answered with two runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Sonoqui led off with a fly ball to left field, and Otero pushed him to second with a sacrifice bunt. Acosta grounded out, but his hit still gave Sonoqui enough time to get to third. He scored on a Ramon Novas single. Novas also wound up scoring, despite Dustin Biell’s strike-out, cinching the 7-6 score and the winning run.

The Royals couldn’t stop the Rays’ charge in the top of the ninth, as Hilton Richardson, Julio Aparicio and Diego Cruz struck out to end the game.

Rays pitcher Mike Jarman picked up the win, while Burlington’s John Flanagan was scored with the loss.

•••

Despite two rain delays and a dwindling crowd, the Rays scored a run in each of the first three innings Friday. Once the weather cleared, the Royals charged, bringing in three runs in the top of the fourth.

But, the Rays answered and claimed the series’ second game at Hunnicutt Field.

Jeremy Beckham opened the bottom of the fifth with a ground-out, but wild pitching changed the game. Burlington pitcher Victor Jorge hit both Diogenes Luis and Tim Beckham, putting them on the bases, and Elias Otero reached first on a fielding error by Burlington first baseman Jason Morales.

Luis made it home on the error, and Tim Beckham scored on Eli Sonoqui’s fly to left field, grabbing the win, 5-3 for Princeton.

Neither team scored in the final four innings of play.

Lefthander Matt Moore was credited with the win from the mound, and James Bagley got the save. The Royals’ O.D. Gonzalez suffered the loss.

•••

By the seventh inning Saturday, it looked like the Rays had the win in the bag. They led the Royals 7-1, but the Royals wouldn’t go down without a fight. After Burlington closed the score to a tie, it took the Rays extra innings to claim the win and their first sweep.

Tim Beckham started the scoring in the first inning, with a single to shortstop. He advanced on a wild pitch, and Burt Reynolds batted him in for the Rays’ first score of the night.

The Royals got on the board in the top of the third, after Hilton Richardson’s single and a fielding error put him in scoring position. Julio Aparicio drove him home with a double to left field.

Princeton struck again in the bottom of the inning, when Diogenes Luis singled to first and stole second. Tim Beckham grounded out, but Luis hustled to third base and ran home on an Elias Otero ground ball to left field.

Then, in the bottom of the sixth, Reynolds walked and Otero singled, just in time for Mayo Acosta’s triple that sent them both around the bases. Ramon Novas brought Acosta home with a sacrifice fly to clear the base runners.

Rays David Genao and D.J. Jones both singled out to end the inning, but the Rays’ run continued into the seventh, when two more Rays made it home, putting a 7-1 Princeton lead on the scoreboard.

Burlington rallied back in a big way in the top of the eighth, when the Royals hit a series of singles off Princeton’s Matt Long. The Rays pulled Michael Jarman out of the bull pen, but the Royals had evened the score by the time the inning ended. The regulation competition closed tied, but the Rays rallied for the win in the bottom of the 11th.

Reynolds singled on a ground ball and ran to second on a wild pitch. Otero singled on a fly ball to center field, and Reynolds hurried home, winning the game 8-7.

The Rays Chris Luck won the game, and the Royals’ Manauris Baez recorded the loss.

Propelled up in Appalachian League east rankings and riding the high from their first sweep, the Rays headed for Greeneville, Tenn., where they continued the winning streak to five games, before dropping the final contest to the Astros Tuesday.

They returned home Wednesday to face the Bluefield Orioles at home before going back to Bowen Field on Thursday.

The Times printed early this week in order to ensure July 4 delivery. Scores and highlights from the Rays games against Bluefield were unavailable but will be included in the July 11 edition.

— Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.

        

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